AAP exhorts voters to reject politics of opportunism

Convenor of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Elvis Gomes, on Thursday, appealed to the people of Panaji to cast their vote with conscience, and reject the politics of opportunism, so as to usher in an era of change.

Addressing the media after the party’s central election committee meeting, Gomes appealed to the people of Panaji to cast their vote with clear conscience to usher in a new era of politics that will cast out even the shadow of Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party from the city.

While blaming both Congress and BJP, Gomes said that BJP and Congress have a deep nexus between them for the sake of power, and called upon the people of the city to reject the politics of opportunism and replace it with the politics of truth.

He said that “the time has come for the people to show that Panaji has suffered too long under the BJP rule, which has killed the essence of the city and its heritage character.”

He said that “the BJP has to be ousted at all costs. The Congress did not have a candidate and hence had to import Atanasio Monserrate alias Babush from another party just before the election,” and went on to ask, “How long this circus will go on?”

“It’s time to stop this. Does anyone know who is the in-charge of Panaji?” he further asked.

“The GSIDC, IPSCL, PWD and the CCP have destroyed Panaji, and nothing has been resolved. On the contrary, they have allowed the Mandovi river to be a reservoir of sewage,” he said, adding, “Garbage problem still haunts. Ourem and St Inez creeks have been destroyed beyond redemption and Panaji’s heritage has been totally neglected.”

Accepting the responsibility and thanking the party leadership for the trust reposed in him, the Panaji candidate Valmiki Naik hit out at the Congress party, and added that “Congress has embraced the person, who had on the last occasion withdrawn from the fray at the last moment in support of the BJP, as a candidate.”

While reacting to the news reports that EVMs were not handled properly, the AAP general secretary Pradeep Padgaonkar said, “It is a matter of great concern that electronic machines from Mandrem constituency reached the strong rooms 24 hours after the closure of polling with the staff unable to take prolonged stress of being on duty for 48 hours without a break.”

“Seriously something is wrong with the machines,” he said, adding security of EVMs is missing.